I'm on the bus from Warszawa (Warsaw) to Lodz to catch my flight back to Bremen, Germany. Fortunately there's wifi on the bus, so I'm not terribly bored.
This is my first time in Poland, and it's also the first time where I didn't know a single word of the national language. Not very many people speak English, so it was a little tough getting around. I arrive in Poland on Wednesday afternoon (4th of July, happy birthday America!) I spent a lot of the day walking around Lodz and sightseeing. My accommodations throughout my stay in Poland were through couchsurfing.org. At first I was a little nervous about staying with people I didn't know, but it was an overall great experience. The people I stayed with were very generous and kind. In Lodz, my host was not available until the afternoon. While I was exploring killing time, I explored a big avenue that goes through Lodz, Piotrkowska street.
I managed to wander out all the way to the old train station where holocaust prisoners were brought into the Lodz ghetto. It was a long walk, I don't recommend walking all they way out to it. Take a bus or tram. Along my long walk there were marks on the sidewalk of where the former ghetto wall stood. I arrived at the old train station, now a museum. It had records of all of those deported. There is also part of the ghetto wall that remains; along it are memorial plaques. There were some from cities that had prisoners deported to the ghetto, and they often read "with remorse and deep regret," an apology to all the victims that died because of simply who they were. I went to Auschwitz the next day, but that experience will have its own blog post.
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| The train. |
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| Former wall border. |
I then headed over to another site called Manufaktura, Lodz is one of the youngest cities in Poland, and it got its booming start from the manufacturing industry. Most of the factories have been closed down now, and Manufaktura is set in one of the old successful manufacturing plants. I finally met up with my host and we went to a meeting of other couchsurfers in the city. We got out late from the meeting, so my host decided to take me to a crêpe restaurant. They had all types of crêpes there, one with chicken and curry, chicken, onion, and beans (that's the one I had), and of course the regular sweet crêpes. The idea of having chicken in a crêpe was so foreign to me, I was hesitant at first to try it. The first crêpe I tried to order was sweet (almond, rise, and vanilla), but for some reason they didn't have the ingredients. So I gave in an ordered the one with chicken, onions, and beans. The verdict? It was absolutely delicious. I wish I had known about this before. The cool think about couchsurfing is that you meet locals who know their town fairly well; had I stayed in a hostel, I would've never thought about eating a crêpe with chicken in it.
The next morning I went to explore the old town, which was filled with old abandoned factories. I couldn't wander around much because I had a train to catch- I was headed to Krakow. I made it on time, but it was a very long train ride (5hrs). The train also didn't have air conditioning- I was almost at melting point. I finally arrived in Krakow after a very long ride. Thankfully, I stayed hydrated with lots of water.
In Krakow I was also met by another host. She was absolutely wonderful and helpful. After I showered and ate, she took me on a walking tour of Krakow. She lived near the town square, so it was a very nice after-dinner walk. She told me we walked around 14km that night (!). I'd believe her- we saw a castle, went to the old market square, the old jewish part of town, and went all the way to Oskar Schindler's factory (the story made famous by the movie "Schindler's List).
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| Market Square. |
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| The entrance to Oskar Schindler's factory. |
I regretfully didn't spend enough time in Krakow, so I'll have to go back and check out everything I missed this time.
I headed to Auschwitz the next morning, and my host helped me plan the trip. As mentioned, I will write about my experience of Auschwitz-Birkenau in a separate post.
Yesterday (Friday) I took a bus to Warsaw. I took PolskiBus.com, the nicest line of buses i've been in. I'm currently writing this post on the Wifi that is available on the bus. The power outlets actually work as well! The tickets are also very cheap.
I met with another host, but since I arrived fairly late (around 9), we didn't have much time to sight see. After the host picked me up from the station, we went to get dinner at a place near the Warsaw Technical University. I forget the name of the restaurant, but the mascot was an old policeman from the old soviet times. I had a salad with baked salmon, and he ordered something strange. The waitress brought his dish and noticed that it had raw meat (raw ground beef), along with some other spices. I asked him if he was going to eat it like that, and he said yes! It seemed so strange to eat raw meat, I was really taken aback by it. After he mixed the spices into the raw meat, I had a taste of it. It actually wasn't bad, but I think i'd rather stick to cooked hamburgers.
The next morning (today) my hosts (Gregorz and his wife) took me on a very quick walking tour of the old section of Warsaw. Warsaw was about 85% destroyed after WWII, Hitler had plans for it to be completely wiped off the maps. However, what little survived it rose from the ashes (some describe the city as a phoenix) and a lot of the buildings were restored, based on old pictures. I had a huge ice cream cone (I forgot to mention that things in Poland are very cheap, in comparison to the rest of the EU).
Again, I spent too little time in Warsaw, but walking around a city with a lot of history, but with a very modern twist was an exciting experience.
Now I am on the bus, about an hour away from Lodz. Traveling through Poland is definitely possible in 4 days, but I wish I had spent more time here. Hopefully I'll be back here soon.
That's it for me now, my next post will need a little more time for reflection.
Do widzenia! (Good bye!)
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